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Fixation and Sectioning

Fixation and Sectioning

Two basic types of preparation are used to visualize specimens with a light microscope: wet mounts and fixed specimens.
The simplest type of preparation is the wet mount, in which the specimen is placed in a drop of liquid on the slide. A liquid specimen can be directly deposited on the slide using a dropper. Solid specimens, such as skin scraping, can be placed on the slide before adding a drop of liquid to prepare the wet mount. Sometimes the liquid is simply water, but stains are often added...

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 20, 2026

Helminth Collection and Identification from Wildlife

Helminth Collection and Identification from Wildlife

Published on: December 14, 2013

A Buffered Alcohol-Based Fixative for Histomorphologic and Molecular Applications.

Candice Perry^1,2, Joon-Yong Chung¹, Kris Ylaya¹

¹Experimental Pathology Laboratory, Laboratory of Pathology, Center for Cancer Research, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland (CP, J-YC, KY, CHC, AS, KTM, WAS, SMH)

The Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry : Official Journal of the Histochemistry Society

|May 26, 2016

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

A new fixative, phosphate-buffered ethanol 70% (BE70), preserves tissue better than formalin. BE70 offers superior biomolecule recovery and quality for FFPE tissues, improving molecular diagnostics.

Keywords:

RNA integrity alcohol fixation formalin histomorphology paraffin embedded real-time RT-PCR tissue

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Area of Science:

Histopathology
Molecular Diagnostics
Biomolecular Preservation

Background:

Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue is standard for diagnostics.
Formalin causes DNA/RNA damage and is carcinogenic.
Alternative fixatives exist but haven't replaced formalin.

Purpose of the Study:

Introduce phosphate-buffered ethanol 70% (BE70) as a novel fixative.
Evaluate BE70's histomorphology, biomolecular integrity, and diagnostic utility.
Compare BE70 to neutral-buffered formalin (NBF) and 70% ethanol.

Main Methods:

BE70 fixation of tissue samples.
Histomorphological assessment.
RNA/DNA isolation and quality/quantity analysis (real-time PCR).
Immunohistochemical staining.

Main Results:

BE70 fixation yields histomorphology similar to NBF.
BE70 is non-cross-linking and non-carcinogenic.
Significantly higher RNA quality and quantity from BE70-fixed tissue.
Excellent RNA and DNA integrity with BE70 compared to NBF.
Comparable immunohistochemical staining results.

Conclusions:

BE70 is a superior non-cross-linking fixative for FFPE tissue.
BE70 enhances biomolecule recovery and quality over NBF and 70% ethanol.
Further clinical studies are needed to assess BE70's full utility.